The post Shea Langeliers walks off Royals with huge double appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Both the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals have been eliminated from playoff contention. But the A’s are finishing the season strong, winning 10 of their last 14 games. On Thursday, AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner Nick Kurtz mashed two more home runs, bringing his season total to 35. But in the series opener against the Royals, Shea Langeliers stole the spotlight.
Advertisement
The fourth-year catcher delivered a clutch walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning. The game-winning hit capped an exciting comeback as the Athletics got the 4-3 victory over Kansas City.
With one out in the ninth, Royals manager Matt Quatraro brought in Luinder Avila, who immediately surrendered a single to Darell Hernaiz. After Brett Harris grounded into a fielder’s choice, Max Schuemann replaced him as a pinch-runner.
Avila started Langeliers off with a 96 mph sinker but missed low and away. The rookie reliever went right back to the pitch but caught too much of the plate and Langeliers smoked the 1-0 offering deep to left center. The ball carried over left fielder Adam Frazier’s outstretched glove.
Advertisement
By the time the relay came to Bobby Witt Jr., Schuemann was already rounding third. An errant throw didn’t really affect the outcome. Schuemann slid home with the winning run and A’s players mobbed Langeliers at second base.
Shea Langeliers delivers in A’s walk-off win
Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
The Athletics’ backstop has flashed multiple times this season. Langeliers had a three-homer game in early August. And he hit a dramatic seventh-inning revenge grand slam off Tarik Skubal last month.
On Friday, the A’s were in a position to walk off the Royals in the ninth because of the team’s other Rookie of the Year candidate Jacob Wilson. After falling behind 3-0 on Jonathan India’s three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning, the Athletics got right back in the game in the fifth.
Advertisement
Langeliers started the rally with a one-out single. Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom then followed with back-to-back two-out walks. With the bases loaded, Quatraro pulled starter Noah Cameron, calling on Taylor Clarke to face Wilson. And the rookie shortstop smashed a three-run double to left, tying the game 3-3.
With the win the Athletics improved to 76-84 on the season. But the team is a fun watch with a bright future. Wilson is hitting .313, second in the majors to Aaron Judge. And the A’s have three players – Kurtz (35), Langeliers (31) and Rooker (30) – with 30 home runs. It’s the first time since 2019 that the team has three players with at least 30 dongs in a season.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
